Politics 2008 commenters & yes, V power : ) Vivendi, Vodaphone & Viacom, the Telecommunication Industry giants

Commenters…thanks for all the private e’s, I appreciate you taking the time to be heard, and I do hear you, my peeps. I’ll address them more on Monday…but Cindy and Bill Clinton mirror some of your sentiments…

Cindy, do you not think oil and telecom co’s are not oligopolies? Methinks perhaps you might want to take a closer look before issuing the ‘grow up’s.’ Emotional? Me? I prefer to say ‘passionate’ but I think you may be referring to Madaline anyway? or both of us? Anyway, read on, my sistah, thanks for writing : )

…and the shareholders notwithstanding, in the end most multi-nationals get a monetary punishment that equals a wrist slapping, which I am sure pleases it’s shareholders better than a large payout, shareholders expect some mishaps, that’s life in big biz…oh, and a good advertising agency can spin just about anything, look at Tylenol and Tampax amongst others…politicians have their own brand of spin doctors, the media…speaking of, see below.

…and Madaline may want to ‘grow up’ but I’m perfectly happy right where I am, I used to want that when I was in my mid-twenties, but not anymore…it’s way over-rated : ) my world is a cheerful place, not always happy, but it’s all in your attitude/gratitude if the truth be told, Cindy.

mmm, happy birthday Mr President, er, oh wait, wrong pres…sorry ‘Bill Clinton’ - hmm, seems to me, Bill, that you are ragging on your own party, and you make the point I did the other day, all Dems nominees and spouses are lawyers, at least Cindy’s got beer : )

You know, Bill Clinton, I am releasing this blog and then I’m taking a 3 day weekend to drink mojitos while floating down a river on a boat, I’m relying on others to paddle and run mild rapids as I will be busy sipping and thinking about your comments and maybe our forefathers (and their mothers for giving them life) for a minute or two…it is the 4th of July…

FYI I am an independent.

You, Bill, seem to be favoring republicans in business activities and I’m all for capitalism but my point below is since when is forming oligopolies a fair and competitive business practice, perhaps you being a lawyer : ) can inform the rest of us non-atty’s?

For some very cool commenting on politics, check my archives (or read the whole way back, c’mon it’ll be fun) and check out June 17, ‘politics & answers to your Q & A’, along with 2 comments, June 18 ‘Your life’s non-negotiables’ w/3 very interesting political comments, and June 19 ‘My intake interview with Obama. What? You don’t think I can do it?’ and again 2 interesting comments…fun politics reading, I assure you. Ed and Anonz and I go toe to toe…great fun, that.

Now for my previously scheduled entry -

Can you name other large names in telecommunications? Yes? Yes, and the their names are probably listed  as ‘holdings’ of these V giants; telephony and its’ relevant communication services…oh say, things like the real NEWS reporting (including the stories that are ‘killed’ bc they’d piss off an advertiser and/or the government(s)), including articles you read in magazines and newspapers and even in books (large publishers are under the innocous ‘other holdings’ heading of these companies), are in their control or close to it, there are others and they all have six degrees of separation, much like Kevin Bacon : )

And I didn’t even mention that if you’re an under thirty five escapist without a clue how to have a relationship - uhm - I mean, ‘gamer’ sorry, listen I’m sure if you’re a gamer you’re taking a break to read a blog and are therefore engaged in a relationship with me at the moment : ) so, hi…seriously I’m sorry…

My point is, we should be questioning what media giants report, are they the facts or hand fed opinions? Or are they feeding info as they want us to know it, spinned for our pleasure and acceptance? I guess I’m just suggesting researching all you read, hear and see…and maybe quit playing games for a minute (nothing against you gamers but have you seen the financials for the video game industry???)

Between Vivendi, who also just acquired gaming giant, Activision, and Blizzard, EA, AOL/Time warner, amongst others, wow, have we’ve got far too many people not paying attention to larger matters of concern here or what??

Back to the info flow. It’s filtered…

You think they’re only doing that in China, and most of Asia, Iraq and all of the Middle East? And let’s not even talk about Africa, they get nothing. I’m not sure when Myan Mar finally heard about the 9/11 debacle, but I’m sure it was well after the fact. But, this is the US you’re thinking, think again… 

Look I am not a conspiracy theorist, I just want you to fact check what you plan to repeat to another human, you owe it to yourself and to them, to get your facts straight. Or maybe you don’t think so…well, I hope you do if we ever meet, bc I am a ‘master debater,’ hee hee, in fact I may play devil’s advocate just for the hell of it, keeps the mind, yours and mine, always challenged to make sure we’re repeating what we really believe. If we find our minds changed or a belief rearranged, well then I’ve done well in my role as the ‘master debater’ (and I don’t lie about the other thing either…I’m master of my domain also).

I haven’t always checked everything, just some. And sometimes, I hate to admit it, I let someone else feed me a good percentage of my opinions, but darlings, not anymore. And I never will again…

How about you, Cindy, Bill Clinton, my private et al’s…??

Your Voting 2008: Madaline’s views, and yours?

***commenters, see end of entry and thanks : )

Ok, I’ll just tell you…

The following are not my words, they are Madaline’s. And it’s long, I’ve tried to edit but I’ll just apologize now, it’s well worth the read though, especially if you’re an opinionated female/male, this subject will pull you in…

So, who’s Madaline, you wonder now? Well, she’s better known as one of a, er, ‘girls’ @ http://michellemoquin.wordpress.com/ (look on left side panel and click on ‘Madaline Speaks’) and wow, you think I have attitude? I’m a mild-mannered wuss compared to her…so today I am giving her the floor, to voice her ideas here at EDGY1, she fits that profile so well : ) don’t you think? Well, you’ll see : )

My comments at the end…(in case you care)

Madaline’s words now… ‘The problem is that America is being destroyed from within by a group that controls its policies. What are the offending policies. To name a few:
1. The females and OTWs of the country are discriminated against by the laws that group enacts, by the police they select to enforce those laws and by the judges they appoint to adjudicate those laws.
2. The American people that group is supposed to represent are discriminated against in favor of corporations, insurance companies, and the wealthy.
3. The rest of the world that looks to the USA for moral guidance and general leadership is betrayed by that group’s selling out to the highest bidder for their services regardless of that country’s action toward its citizens.
4. The animals and the environment that group is supposed to protect are abandoned so they can deliver higher profits to corporations for money.

Who is this group that controls the seat of power in the United States of America and how long have they held it? White American males is the only answer that can be honestly given and they have held it since the origin of this country.

The last part of that question tells more that the who. The “how long” tells one, who would be charged with solving the problem quickly and efficiently, that this group represents several things. Some of those things would be:
1. This group is not likely to change its behavior on its own. It has held power too long to believe it will ever have power wrested from it. So there is no incentive for it to change.
2. This group got its power initially by enacting laws that would ensure that it was the power of the land.
3.Whenever those laws were threatened they sought to defuse, separate, discredit, and or defame the opposing parties.
4. If those laws were changed to force them to share their power they appointed police and judges that would interpret the new laws in ways that kept them in power.

My advice would be is to see if there is a counterbalance to diluting this group’s power hold on the country. Since that group gets it power through the “offices” it holds from which it enacts the laws, appoints the officials to enforce those laws and appoints the judges to adjudicate those laws, the obvious answer would be to take back those offices. Hence my advice would be for women for the next 4 to 5 years to vote for anyone running for office that is NOT a white male. Sure you would lose some good white males. But the message you would be sending is worth the lost.

That message would be: you white males have had 200 plus years to get it right, you have f**ked it up. Sit it out for the next 4 to 5 years and give some other Americans a shot. You will get a second chance in 4 or 5 years. At the very least when the opportunity for white males to return to office presented itself in 4 to 5 years, they would respect the power that put them there and hence think more carefully before betraying their electorate for a few dollars more.

My advice would be when selecting from non white males vote for NO one who spouts the mantra of “Less Government.” White males use that canard to deregulate an industry. The people who control that industry then have the power to rip off the American people. With no government oversight or legal power to regulate the crooks we get sky high phone, electric, gas, mortgage, etc hikes.

When politicians say they want to eliminate government red tape so that business can operate more efficiently. What they mean is that they want to allow that business to right to write the laws by which it should be governed, and they want to remove any governmental penalties that would force that business to answer to the American people if they are wronged. Any good politician can streamline government regulations and still maintain strict governmental oversight. When it doesn’t the people get a polluted environment, cancer causing products, contaminated food, and poor medical assistance.

Does any sane person really believe that competition between corporations would be a better protector of the American people’s interest than politicians who can be voted out if they fail their electorate. More Governmental regulations and control would return our country to true capitalism and free market competition based on supply and demand. What we have today is an bunch of oligopolies pretending to be in competition for the consumer’s dollar. Deregulation has allowed them to simply buy out the competition at any cost and drive up prices because they control the supply of that product.

I’ll only make this brief comment, I’m all over the sentiment of that last paragraph.

What do you think? Feel free to comments, public or private, as usual it is as you wish : )  

***JohnJ, I’m glad you like my face. Not sure how I feel about posting my ‘pole dancing body’ though…I’ll think about it, how’s that?  

the blog starlet is Jonesing for…

.

 

 

..an old new blog starlet shot for you, new ones up soon, what’s the hold up? I have to get my hair cut and brows done, yeah, I know that’s vain but too bad, I’m a girl : ) For my blog men out there, you know who you are, just remember this…

Girls Rule and Boys Drool ; )

This blog starlet is Jonesing (and badly) for a ski…! I’m not even sure what kicked off this urge really, especially since it’s the end of June already, shouldn’t I be hankering for mojitos and a beach umbrella? But, no…

Must’ve been a reaction to what happened earlier today, I guess. I was digging around in a drawer and found several books of note; they were in there for a reason, they have naughty content, oh you know, the infamous ’Story of O’ I smiled at that. It was given to me many years ago and never fails to be provocative, meowpurr. Then I found a book a girlfriend gave me, ‘The Wish List’ and I did as suggested and started checking off ‘things to do before I die,’ but I got bored, I’d rather just be doing them…or not.

So, my wish is to ski in summertime in Chile, not sure what the conditions or the terrain are like and I probably cannot pull it off this year, too many things to handle here but next year could work : )

Oh…just started watching ‘Rescue Me’ with Dennis Leary, hmmm, he’s not that good looking but he’s got a certain something, so, you know, it’s not really a wish but I wouldn’t throw him out either ; )

You have anything your privately Jonesing for? What’s on your wish list?

 

Politics 2008, oh yeah! Hmm, and big business fits in how??

Oh baby, I am totally digging the Obama/Clinton lovefest! They even look good in pictures together…

Aawww, so sweet, and so nice that the fighting is over, now they can snug almost PDA-like campaigning their way into a winning President and veep situation, forgiving all those personal digs not to mention the large debt.

Oh yes, the sweet smell of success is in the air, my peeps…Or is it?

So far we have all attorneys married to what: other attorneys…great. At least McCain’s wife owns a large beer distributionship, which should make most men drool, no?

Ok, I’ll quit joking around now…

Alright, someone’s got to do it so, I’ll be the one to raise the ’spousal’ -key to winning- thing bc in my opinion, it matters to American’s. We tend to like a certain ’image’ of our president and his/her spouse and in the general corp world also. We will openly chat about whose wife/hub is ‘bringin’ em’ down’ on the job. And I’ve seen it happen in the corporate world, it’d never be spoken, there’s no ‘uh say, Jane/Jim, uh we’d give you the promotion but your wife/hubby, you know, he’s/she’s a buffoon/drunken idiot/nutter…’

Ah, and so it is the same in politics, si or no? Hmm, what’ll it be now? Michelle Obama’s a total racist? Or Bill is a womanizer who’s bound to F up Hill’s chance at the gold? He seems to have withstood this charge before though, and no she isn’t a great female role model bc of it. Or will it be that Cindy’s beer and John’s lack of viagra will kill the deal? (Doesn’t the woman know that’s what your tennis instructor  is for? jk…kind of…)

But does any of this really matter in the grander ‘big business’ scheme of things really? How will Obama be bought and paid for? All the others have already proven that they are, and can therefore be manipulated but what about Barack, can he resist the multi-national pressure? I’m going to say: maybe not…

Tomorrow, a more in depth look…involving all of that ‘grander multi-national scheme’ I’ll start with the media giants (Vivendi and Vodaphone and their holdings, for starters), then I thought I’d cover the oil industries : ) (oh the pain and the joy, $75 to fill my car’s gas tank, expletive, expletive, expletive…), and then, you know, if you any other suggested industries you think require  a google/look-see and a few words from me : ) - let me know…

It’s what I live for, writing and serving you all in some minor way : ) 

My private peeps: Lmdevin@att.net or Lillian@lilliandevin.com and know that I luv you no less for not commenting publicly but that I probably will answer you here, sometimes I like to get off this laptop and get to the business of living!

 

www.wikileaks.com & George Carlin’s video & responses

Hey, it’s Saturday so I’m keeping it short and sweet…We have a weekend to enjoy going on out there, and as one of my frequent commenters mentioned a while ago, there’s a time when you have to get off your computer and work on interaction with people out in the real world, or something similar as that…

A little blog housekeeping as well, private commenters, thanks and yes, of course, the line is open to newbies, thanks for bringing it to my attention that the lack of contact info might be a problem! There are quite a few newbies due to the political frenzy entries of last few weeks. Thank you Ed and Anonz. I never cared much about the ‘quantity’ of readers as long as there were readers, but the number of new readers jumped considerably due to you two : )

Soooo, my super private peeps, I’ve mentioned before I am not a PI, have no need/desire to know your identity even though you get to know mine, and blah blah blah…please, just feel free to e me @ Lmdevin@att.net or lillian@lilliandevin.com …if it’s more comfortable for you to express yourself to me personally.

Just wanted to give this a quick mention, I read a news article about www.wikileaks.com earlier in the week, it was regarding the inner workings of the churches of Scientology and the Latter dat Saints better known as Mormons; I’m sure this resonates with someone but I know just enough about both ‘religions’ to make me not click through just for those ’secret documents’ but I wanted to see what else was in there that was ’secret’ - hmmm, there are some US military training tactics along with psychological warfare methods for dealing with insurgents that I found interesting, although the highlights escape me right now : )

The site www.wikileaks.com also has some interesting info re: any country in the world and US and/or other military equipment on the ground there. If you’re the military type or are just curious about what the US might be up to, you’ll enjoy the scan…

And now, for your entertainment…I bring you George Carlin’s ‘White People’ it is so funny and George was always so right on in his rants, he’ll be missed.

Anonymous tall girl, Pole mix #1 has Marvin Gaye’s Let’s get it on, sexual healing, heard it through the grapevine, what’s going on, I want you (another personal fave after sexual healing), and of course, Barry White’s ‘your sweetness is my weakness (I swear I cannot make out half the lyrics but he sounds so damn good anyway…), ain’t too proud to beg (forget artist right now) and Chrissie Hynde’s version of ‘I got u, babe’

Ed, yes, my judgment is usually good in all matters, I like to be deliberate in making decisions, chance doesn’t work for me, I like a loosely held plan in mind.

Enjoy the weekend…Monday I think we’ll be getting back to politics, things are heating up nicely : ) it’s is, mmm, what’s the word, breath-taking, to watch the Dems making nice now, I knew it’d happen but Obama saying, ‘Hillary rocks…’ oh baby, this is going to get fun fast ; ) yeooowww….(so far the man has my vote)

Zen and the art of ’self medication’

Working on new pics of the blog starlet…please be patient ; )

Late yesterday afternoon, I felt pain came on fast and strong, it’s a fairly common womanly affliction but usually there are warning signs. This time - none. it hurt so bad and so concentrated in that small area just a above that multi-functional pleasure center that I needed relief and needed it fast. I have a high threshold for pain but that doesn’t mean internally I’m not screaming or begging someone to just hold my hand, yes, I am a bit of a baby when I’m illin’…

So, I did what any woman thrown beyond her limits would do, I rummaged through the meds and found my coveted pills, I bought them in Mexico on the cheap since I am a self diagnoser. They’re 500 miggies of pure relief, the usual dosage is 250 mgs/day. I downed one and for good measure took two of an OTC pain reliever (the back of the box said no more than 8 in a 24 hr period, ok, I’ll remember that). I mentally told myself that in twenty minutes life would be better, it wasn’t I took 2 more of the OTC’s…and told myself another twenty…

It didn’t happen so, yes, Dr Zen tossed back another 500 miggie mega-pill…and another 2 OTC’s for good measure. I remember rationalizing this move with a ‘why wait and dose for 3 days when I can be good by morning’ thought process. I passed out face first about 9-ish, and when I woke up at 1:30am the pain was gone. Oh, I was so relieved. I walked to the bathroom, and oh about halfway there…ugh…overwhelming nausea made me sit right on the floor mewling like a kitten. It was awful, and I have a total aversion to vomiting, so it was extra freaky. I thought, why do I do this kind of thing to myself? I made a mental note to stop mega-dosing in the future…

But I know I’ll do it again if I’m ever in that much pain.

Do you do anything to avoid pain, physical or otherwise? & did you have a nicer night than mine?

 

What a workout: pole dancing, lap dancing, oh yeooowww…

Below is how I was going to start this entry today, but I’d just like to add that while I might try to claim that I took it bc I thought it would be fun, it is actually an active part in the ‘reinvention of Zen Lill’ and when it was mentioned on Michelle’s blog http://michellemoquin.wordpress.com a few months back, I’ll admit now that I thought ‘fun for you, you’re a petite sexy mama,’ followed closely by the sad belief that I been passed by in that department or at least it felt that way, you see I meant it when I said I lost my mojo : ) Anyway, the fun factor won out, I will always try something fun once and I must tell you…my mojo, she was just in hiding, like a lot of the parts of me, but she won’t be leaving again, hell no, the girl’s got freakin’ game ; )

Here’s the entry as I was going to let it roll… 

I got busy looking through my stash of tunes, it was Wednesday again and that means: pole dancing class, yes and this night there was an ‘added value’ feature, the lap dance. The teacher mentioned it last week as a parting thing…a woman in my class snuck in the question on everyone’s mind, ‘are we doing it with each other??’ ‘Yes, that’s correct,’ we would be doing it with each other.

Woman, who shall remain nameless looks over at me and said, ‘I want her to do it to me.’ Hmm, nothing like putting it out there, the first thing that flew through my sarcastic mind was, ‘you’re not my type, I prefer a certain thickness through the shoulder area, not to mention other striking features…’ but I held back and heard the teacher say, ‘Done! Amazon, don’t forget to bring music’

Uh, oh hey gritty girl/teacher, don’t I have a say in this? Answer: No…so I made a mix, and the song I decided on would probably be well suited to seduce a large middle-aged Hispanic woman, she’s lovely don’t get me wrong, but just in case there’s any question: I’d rather grind on a man, but she couldn’t supply any of those, too bad…

For your listening and relaxing pleasure…and just for the record, dammit, I was good ; )

 Anonz, babe, this is not designed to intentionally torture you, please just go with it, ok?

 

Ed, I know you’re reading, I just wanted to let you know that if you do care to comment publicly again, I won’t think you’re ego driven, not at all. That being said, I will honor your e-mail request. And thank you.

So, everyone, it might just be Thursday but try dancing anyway…maybe in your house to your favorite tune? There’s something very liberating about the whole experience, or maybe it’s just me, that pole and that armchair…

Now that I’m back into smiling like I’m alive again, I just can’t stop, but that’s a good thing, right? Hmm, the list of things that are making me feel alive again is getting long, what comes to mind for you?

Go ahead, google it : )

Michelle: see end of entry…

Thought I’d lighten the mood today since it’s ‘Hump Day.’ I love the double entendre of that…

It could mean it’s just Wednesday, or oh no, it’s the middle of your long workweek with only two more to go or it could mean: hey, idiot, you’ve been too busy all week so today’s the day to text/call your honey and say something to make him/her want to: hump, you…today : )

But about the entry…Jesus, see where my mind goes…you can’t take me anywhere…

Soooo, yes, I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve recently heard info and then had someone say (or write, Anonz, oh and it’s not a problem, sweet pea) ‘google it’ about everything in life. And suddenly, we just all do that googling thing. Well, the info is all there, we think…

 I’m not saying we shouldn’t ’google it’ but I have found that just like in the fine old class of statistics (which I hated for the record), if you want to prove something out one way (or the other) you can simply keep ‘googling’ till you ’substantiate’ your own agenda.

This is not a knock to any info supplied here by ‘googling it’ or anyone saying ‘google it’ or even the act of ‘googling it’ but just know that when you do ’google it’ you should also ’substantiate’ the site’s validity where you are gathering the ’substance’ of your claim (whatever that may be) that you’ll go telling others about…

Of course, adding ‘google it’ to the convo could be used as a disclaimer, that just occurred to me, hee hee, cause if I tell you something and then say, ’go ahead, google it’ I just let myself off the hook : ) I could be telling you the truth as I researched it on google or I could just be making s**t up and telling you to ‘google it’ bc I am too lazy or you know, a self-proclaimed procrastinator : )

I think I’ll magically ‘google’ myself into a cool, high paying and satisfying job. A friend called me very early this morning and told me she had a dream and said it seemed so real (explains the 6:30 call): she said I had it ALL, everything…and went into great detail, I’m pretty sure my responses were mmmm, mmm? & huhmmm…what a dream, so excited she actually called that early…I have to call her back, I do remember saying hmmm hmmm which is sleep code for thank you : ) 

Maybe GOOGLE will hire me… Have a groovin googling hump day ; ) - tee hee -  

Michelle, they say once you go black you never go back, babes…hahaha…all that talk about satifying your woman, whatdya trying to do to me?? I sent you a private e-mail re: my favorite inventor, George Washington Carver (Google it!).

And OK, you and Anonz, point taken, re: dems/gay rights and them having any rights at all. Boy , that’s sure a sore point for those ‘family values’ repub folks, though, no? I guess they just take their lovin’ on the run, or, er, in public restrooms in parks and airports and elsewhere, perhaps?   

Yeah, about that Patriot Act…& um, relationships (Ed, you out there?)

Yes, I know how to Google, too, Anonz : ) hahaha…so let’s talk about that Patriot Act and it’s revisions. It’s gotten so much press I just had to comment : ) tough for me to keep quiet I’m afraid…

(Ed googles ‘relationship’ issues. Also mentioned that he’s an internet dater, not sure I know what that means exactly: e-mail/texting? Is there ever any actual ‘live’ contact?! A good deep voice on the phone line, for starters, would work for me…a date implies an actual meeting still doesn’t it??) 

Back to my entry now…

The Patriot Act: the matters’ crux and the ensuing uproar comes down to this: some revisions to the Patriot Act are dramatic and others are not, so much…so let’s do dramatic…

Yes, there are now parts of the act that regulate government conduct that was going, oh um, unregulated? Yes, and that’s a good change I suppose.

Now, on the other hand, some parts of this act totally expand government powers almost exponentially and allow it to spy on ordinary citizens, like me (hmmpht, I prefer to think of myself as extraordinary), in a whole new way. The scary part is the lack of governmental openness in describing its and implementation, not to mention the worst part: no disclosure!

Oh, that is unless you find yourself being hauled off to jail one day…then you’ll know and hopefully you’ll have a good attorney waiting in the wings : )

But, should you be concerned, you might ask, I mean if you have nothing to hide, who cares, right? Hmmm, let’s take a closer look, you decide…

A quickie outline of the revisions in the Patriot Act:

Section 215 deals with private records. 215 extends the FBI the power to conduct essentially warrantless records searches, especially on people who are not themselves terror suspects, with little or no judicial oversight. The government sees this as an ‘incremental’ change in the law, but the lack of meaningful oversight and the ever expanding scope of possible suspects is pretty dramatic. You used to need a ‘warrant and reasonable suspicion,’ hmm, not a bad idea one would think…

Section 218 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act - ‘sneak and peek’ warrants, at the time, 1978, the changes were minor and the usual standard requirement for a police search – yeah – that’d be ‘probable cause to believe a criminal act had occurred’ and a warrant, it seemed minor bc it would only be unnecessary in a ‘teensie’ number of cases, famous last words, those. The teensie number just had mega-growth so now ‘secret’ searches are now authorized by a ‘secret’ court without your knowledge or justice dept accountability, now that’s ’secret’ and here’s the caveat: the government claims there’s an ‘alleged’ basis for said ’search,’ but what might the ‘alleged basis’ be if it’s all done so secretly?  Answer: it’s a secret : )

Section 214 deals with “Pen registers” or acquiring phone numbers dialed from a ‘suspect’s’ telephone, that and ‘trap and trace” devices monitor the source of all incoming calls. Neither one reveals the communication content. Patriot removes the warrant requirement for these taps so long as the government can certify that the information likely to be obtained is “relevant” to an ongoing investigation against international terrorism. Lots of loosely used terms being thrown around here, all sounds pretty ambiguous yet  all encompassing to me…

Section 206 authorizes ‘roving’ wiretaps: taps specific to no single phone or computer but to every phone or computer the ‘target’ may use. This part doesn’t get as much attention as it should. If the government decides to tap a computer at the Berkeley library, every communication by every user can theoretically be intercepted. That’s big…the use of ‘warrant power,’ troubling.

 

Section 505 authorizes the use of what’s essentially an administrative subpoena of personal records. The subpoenas require ‘no probable cause or judicial oversight,’ oh nice and nobody argued about all this open freedom and abuse of power? Oh wait, that’s right we’re in a ‘war on terror’ but who are the ‘terrorists’ we’re really talking about here??

And where did ‘probable cause’ disappear to? Of couse, the Dept of Justice site will dispel the ‘myths’ of the Patriot Act and make you ask yourself this: wouldn’t I rather agree to this and spare us all from a terrorist attack in it’s early stages? Or no…?  

That’s it from your resident loud-mouth, me, and your thoughts…?

Anonz, just had to respond to your comments…

First a q: do you believe 9/11 was plotted and executed by the US powers that be and Osama Bin Laden or?? I’ve seen a film that infers that there were explosives in the lower levels of the building, etc…

I think you are correct, if you weren’t FOR the Iraqi invasion the perception was that you were unpatriotic. Hey, I was convinced that Clinton ground intel budget cut was the culprit, and that ground spies left in place may have prevented a lot of things…but that’s all old news now, isn’t it…

Repub men are notoriously bigoted, homophobic, and misogynistic not to mention insufferable control freaks with their women in the name of religion or whatever else they can get away with calling it. Repub women are weak-minded male followers, why do you think I’ve been a registered Indie for the past twenty years?? Hahaha…

After he introduced himself and chatted briefly, I asked a handsome man who approached me last friday if he was a republican. He laughed and said, ‘yes, is that a problem?’ I said, ‘only if we’re talking politics.’ Bwahahaha…I told him I was an Indie, didn’t seem to scare him so I’m guessing he’s a liberated sort, he was also young, young men don’t mind strong-minded women.

I don’t get it though, why control women at all, I mean, what’s the point?? We bear the children, you’d think we’d be revered…and treasured just for that. Without us, men are screwed. Is the male ego that incredibly fragile? If it is, why not just cop to it all the while praying you get a good woman that won’t hold that info against you. Just a thought…

Republican women are weak-minded, oh yes, and father knows best types, too. And the ‘father’ part has been deeply indoctrinated at home and at Sunday school, these chicks never stood a chance, kind of sad…air-head’s from birth… 

Cheney’s daughter is a woman who is between a rock and a hard place; love of father (and those infamous family values!) and wanting to live her own life, something I’m sure her loving father gave lip service to in private – as long as she supported and campaigned for the party – how her partner put up with that shit I will never know, must be true love : ) the kind worth nurturing, maintaining and making some serious compromises for, I can’t totally berate either of them there, you don’t find that kind of love very often.   

The religious right think they’re always right, the pope should’ve had all Catholic priests prosecuted years ago for the amount of child molestation that takes place, but  no, people want something to believe in so bad they’d rather risk their kids and let the church save face; totally pathetic in this woman’s opinion.

Hey sweet pea, I’m not stupid and I know BS when I hear it, even if it’s delivered with high-minded platitudes by some TDH, which I admit can be a bit distracting : ) I’m weak at times, but not totally weak ; )

Politics with AnonZ-ymous…starring Ed and my silent readers

I was going to do a point for point political thing prompted by Ed and Anonz comments (entry: My intake interview with Obama) but that’d be too long, and  Anonz eloquently handled that anyway. I agree with 90% of Anonz’s nicely stylized anecdotal coverage so I’ll just state the ones I truly loved and the 10% I ‘take issue with’ and Anonz, babe, you feel free to anecdotally take me out, you’re very good at doing that nicely : ) 

I’ll bold my words from here if I’ve cut and pasted Ed/Anonz statements…

Love this one ‘…How do you explain calling the democrats the spenders when Bush not only spent the entire trillion dollars but he has us trillions of dollars in debt. If this is your idea of fiscal conservatism, you need some serious math lessons…’  I use a calculator always but you don’t even need one for this…

Anonz, not so sure I agree on the bi-lingual education thing. It’s mostly a logistics and execution issue though, a bi-lingual format means more training for teachers, etc…that being said it wouldn’t hurt all American kids to know a second language.  We are such a monolinguistic nation. Now, hmmm, not sure whether I take issue with that anymore or not, let me think on that…

Do you really believe Obama can change that business as usual thing in Washington??

Love this also: I am soooo with you on the public education system, it could be reformed easily and every kid deserves a good education, it truly would not take much to fix this. You’re in a distinctly superior position to make some noise about this with your political connections. I have no political connections.

I mentioned this on M’s blog but really LOVE this one 7. No abortions can be labeled immoral. ****** When Ed and I can give birth to babies we will revisit this statement. This was precious, seriously, coming from a man, right freakin’ on, babe.

High schools should make condoms available to students and teach them how to use them. ****** Another hot button we Republicans use to “wake up” our constituents. Nothing gets republicans madder than teaching their girls how not to get pregnant. We want them to suffer for their sins. yes, all that moralizing is just plain annoying…Did I ever tell you the story about the right to lifer in the ‘Port’, that’s the town I grew up in in CT, I’ll tell it another day, what an unintentional ruckus I caused!

Racial profiling for terrorists is wrong — a white American…Saudi young male. ***Let me ask did we racially profile white males…. Zen Lill ask Ed privately via email why he thinks that didn’t happen. Sweet pea, there’s a lot of favors I’d do for you but do I have to do this one?!

I’m good with the range owning the gun and ammo I’ll rent gun/buy ammo and shoot it there. But would everyone else give up their ‘right to (own) bear arms’? I doubt it. And all those automatic weapons? I cannot seem to control an AK47 but think about it, who needs one of these anyway??

Ok, here’s the one I’ll challenge you on, Anonz (and read below paragraph before you get tweaked with me)…your words ‘…The war in Iraq is illegal. It was launched on a lie. We killed and maimed millions of people on a lie. What part of there were no weapons of mass destruction do you not understand. We did not go into Iraq to liberate it from the tyranny of Saddam. You cannot justify the illegal occupation of a sovereign country with a pretense that you went there to liberate it’s people…’ Ok, I’m not going to go on about the ‘liberation’ of Iraqi people, but what about all that same intel everyone was running around espousing at the time? Kerry and Edwards were giving speeches re: the #1 threat to national security was Saddam Hussein, needs to be stopped, etc…check out the 2004 presidential race speech archives. Do you not think any part of WMD could’ve been shipped through Syria for disposal at any point? BUT, wait…these words from you made me rethink even wanting to ask you the above q: ‘…when the bullets start flying and the smell of gun powder, sweat, urine death and fear fill your nostrils, you will not soon forgive a man that sent you to that experience on a lie nor an administration that your keep you there in spite of it…’ strong words, powerful visuals also…

Love this, ‘The Democrats may have a higher track record for getting caught, but that does not excuse the successful criminals because they have yet to get caught.’ Yes, tell it, hahaha…

My own personal fave and thanks for bringing it up  – ‘Of course you would not see Zen Lill as compassionate when she is on her “Queen rant” because she speaks to you then as an equal or better. That would bother you.’  My family is like this…I’m supposed to be sweet and always agreeable (with their viewpoint, not sure if it’s an Italian thing or a youngest kid/female thing) without ideas of my own, especially the edgier ones.

Oh, c’mon, Ed, you didn’t like my ‘true queen’s wear size 13 stilettos,’ it was just a little joke, honey.

As always, your thoughts are welcome and please feel free to comment!